The House Natural Resources and Environment committee hearing was filled with cheering oyster farmers after legislation to set growth requirements for harvested raw oysters was killed in a 9 to 6 vote Wednesday.
House Bill 722 by Rep. Jerome Zeringue, R-Houma, would have instituted a 3-inch requirement to make oysters harvested on state leased properties more “wholesome and marketable.” There’s approximately 400,000 acres currently under lease in Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries website.
The state’s roughly 1.6 million acres of public harvesting areas already have a 3-inch harvest requirement.
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